Combat Arms Review

And yet again, another first-person-shooter (FPS) emerges from the scene. Combat Arms is a “free to play” online FPS game that lets players battle it out using modernized weaponry. I wont deny the fact that FPS games are currently the center of the gaming industry. Whether it’s on consoles, portable gadgets or the PC, FPSes have become quite an attraction. The way it exercises its network capabilities proves how well these type of games function in this new meta of gaming.

Combat Arms shares the same concept of these FPS games. It’s always fun to team up with others while shooting your opponents to kingdom come. However, one mustn’t judge a game simply by its genre. Combat Arms also has a few tricks up its sleeve, so let’s check it out and see how well this game is compared to its counterparts.

Wow! This is sweet!

The first thing you’ll probably notice is the game’s graphic capabilities. This models are rendered fantastically, which is quite rare for a free to play game. The game seems to be up to date when it comes to visuals. Kind of reminds me of Call of Duty 4 or World at War. When it comes to graphics, this game is a lot better than most MMOs today. The colors are quite bright and the frame rate is pretty enthralling. If your PC can handle the system requirements then I’m sure you’re in for a ride. The controls are pretty much the same as the typical FPS control scheme, so you don’t really have to get used to it unless you’re new with this type of genre.

The interface is quite similar to the most up to date shooters. Basically, you’ll see your lifebar on the bottom left portion of your screen along with your ammo count on the bottom right. What’s really satisfying about this game is how the kill count pops up whenever you enter a “killing spree”. The grungy text really helps you feel the glory of having to kill multiple targets. In fact, that definitely beats a small message that says “yourname killed—-> hisname” by a mile. Nothing is more rewarding than a big fat message that signifies your triumph, and the grungy text alone pretty much delivers that.

Locked and Loaded

Combat arms lets players customize their guns to enhance their performance in the field. Modifying your artillery by adding a scope for example, can greatly optimize your accuracy. You can even add suppressors and extra magazine clips to help you last longer in the battlefield. The game has a wide variety of customizable guns, which is of course one of the biggest factors of First Person Shooters. You would probably mistake this game for a tactical shooter after seeing what its armory holds.

Heartbeat detectors for example, are used to locate your enemies in the field. The game also caters a bunch of sneaky traps like mines and marking grenades to help you suppress the opposing team.

Each gun has their own optimized way of usage so do pick what further compliments your playstyle.

*KABOOM! BAM BAM BAM! Thududududududududududududu*

Other than the great visuals, what pulls this game together is the brilliant sound effects. Hearing your gear wiggle as you walk around the area kind of gives you the heavily geared feeling. It almost feels like the character is already a real life extension of your body.

Don’t tell me that we’ll be doing deathmatches till the game dies.Of course not! Combat arms also has a nice set of missions to help remove the repetitive gameplay. There’s the Spy hunt scenario which is more like a Metal Gear type mission. In this mode you’ll be playing alongside a designated team who will then be on a mission to find three sources of intel. After getting the information you need, you will then become a turncoat super spy whose mission is to reach the designated area before your enemies (namely the entire squad and your now X-teamnmates) get a hold of you. This mode is quite fun especially if you’re into spy flicks.

The game also has a couple of old scenarios like: Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, Individual Deathmatch, and of course the nostalgic Plant the Bomb Scenario.

If you think that this is as silly as the game could get then you’re dead wrong. The Snowball fight mode lets players mash each other with snowballs rather than bullets. Silly I know, but it’s quite hilarious really. Each kill you make will lessen the opposing team’s respawn point. Once a team’s respawn point reaches zero, that team will no longer be able to spawn members making the other team the victors.

Yeah this game IS pretty good, and the words Free to Play makes it a whole lot better. I’m telling ya, Free to Play is music to my ears.

IT’S TAEM! FOR WOAAR!

Tired of de_dust? Combat Arms has a good lineup of maps ready for your to wreak havoc on. Each map looks a lot different from the others; meaning you wont have to grouch over getting to play in the same repetitive areas over and over again.

The Final Verdict

There’s no doubt that games like these are bound to have a lot of players. This one however, is probably the next gen of free to play shooters. Excellent graphics, crazy sound effects, high replay value, this game is anything but bad. After seeing this game up close, I don’t think I’ll be deleting it from my system any time soon. The maps are quite exquisite. I don’t think I’ll even be close to getting tired of this game. Competing with other people in the battlefield is quite addictive and this game greatly emphasizes that war-ish feeling. Instead of formulating a new gimmick that would change the meta of FPSes, this game just went straight and re stabilized the traditional First Person genre. It is a classic… but then again… a classic reborn.

Combat arms is marvelous to behold, so whether you’re an FPS fan or just a random gamer who wants to try something new then this game is for you.